For driver assistance systems which are based on sensor systems for detecting the environment, the modeling and representation of the vehicle environment is of great importance. One option of representation is an occupancy grid, in which the vehicle environment is divided into equidistant grid cells and each grid cell is provided with details such as occupied or unoccupied. An alternative approach is the representation in a dense environment representation. Here, an occupancy information is obtained via a defined area in the environment of the vehicle from the sensor data and is entered into an occupancy map. Such a representation allows a direct evaluation of the available maneuver space.